It seemed there was no way to refuse anymore. With even the doctor brought in, what could she say?
Emilia finally headed towards the bed with a resigned look on her face.
“I’ll first check the injured areas and then focus on examining the ankle area last.”
Enrico, sitting in a chair next to the bed, was staring at her intently with an unreadable expression. She glanced at him once before looking back at the doctor.
She was worried the doctor might notice something when examining her ankle. She’d have to vaguely say that it hurts occasionally but doesn’t greatly hinder her ballet.
It’s not like she can’t do ballet right now, and if it’s bad she can say she’ll get treatment. Emilia tried to think positively, in contrast to how she had been postponing this.
“The wounds on your body have healed a lot. At this rate, they should heal completely.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Now I’ll examine your ankle.”
She felt the doctor’s hands trying to remove her shoe. Emilia hurriedly blocked his hand while trying to speak calmly.
“Aren’t you just checking the ankle condition? I’d prefer if you didn’t remove the shoe, is that possible?”
“Ah… I’ll let you know if it’s not feasible as I examine.”
“Thank you.”
The doctor carefully felt her ankle to check its condition. It hurt occasionally when he pressed certain areas, but not unbearably so.
“The ligament seems to be somewhat damaged.”
“…Is that so?”
It seems he wasn’t the duke’s personal physician for nothing. To be able to tell roughly just from this examination.
“With this level of injury, it must have hurt when running. Was it alright?”
“Yes. Nothing like that happened.”
“Really?”
Enrico, who had been quietly observing, suddenly spoke up. Emilia looked at him, blinking her eyes rapidly.
“Yes… I just felt some pain occasionally when getting up quickly, but that’s recent. There was no issue even when jumping.”
“For it to be just that, hasn’t the same ankle been hurting continuously? The right ankle, I mean.”
It was disconcerting that he even remembered which ankle precisely. Emilia slightly averted her gaze and barely managed to speak after her lips trembled.
“If you put it that way, there’s no part that doesn’t hurt. I exercise every day, so it’s impossible for my body to be perfectly fine.”
“That’s why you should accurately describe your symptoms and get examined.”
Currently, medical techniques haven’t developed enough to completely cure internal issues like ligaments and joints in detail, inevitably leading to early retirement for ballerinas.
Knowing this, Emilia thought there was no point in mentioning it now since the doctor wouldn’t have any good solutions anyway. Especially not in front of Enrico.
Thinking she shouldn’t reveal more weaknesses, Emilia simply nodded.
“My ankle hurts a bit when I overexert myself. But it subsides right away if I apply a hot compress, so the symptoms don’t last long.”
“Hmm, you’re handling it well. For now, it would be good to take anti-inflammatory medicine, and I’ll prescribe painkillers for when it hurts a lot. However, I’m not giving you these painkillers so you can dance more.”
“Ah… Yes.”
“Don’t just apply hot compresses when it hurts, do it every day.”
“Yes.”
While listening to the various instructions from the doctor, Emilia’s mind was on Enrico. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her for a moment.
‘He’s really an unpredictable person.’
After being so sarcastic before he left, now he contacts her after a long time to get her examined. As if only her body mattered to him, she couldn’t open her heart because of this behavior.
Finally, the doctor packed his bag and slowly got up. Emilia was about to adjust her skirt, thinking it was finally over, when she flinched at a hand on her shoulder.
“Apply a hot compress before you go.”
“I’ll have it prepared.”
As the doctor left the room, Enrico now sat in the chair the doctor had used. Emilia was in an awkward posture when she saw his hand approaching her ankle and pulled her foot closer to herself.
“What are you doing?”
“Your ankle is too thin.”
What about it being thin? Emilia blinked her eyes and remained still. Then Enrico reached out his long arm and grabbed her ankle that was slightly exposed under her skirt, pulling it towards him.
“Uh-.”
His large hand tickled as it fiddled with her ankle. His hand, always warm, enveloped her ankle as if warming it. Gazing down at her ankle as if fascinated, he asked in a low voice.
“You seem to injure this ankle often.”
“Pardon?”
Emilia’s face stiffened slightly as she tried to pull her foot away from him immediately.
“Wasn’t it the right ankle that was injured in Bacorta and during the performance accident too?”
“…That’s true, but it’s not a big problem.”
“I’ve been curious about something.”
His gaze, which had been looking down at her ankle, slowly rose. She felt her throat go dry at the painfully slow meeting of their eyes.
“Why are you so sensitive about your ankle?”
“Pardon?”
“You seem eager to change the subject whenever we talk about your ankle.”
“Did I do that?”
Emilia pretended to look down at her ankle while avoiding his gaze. His gaze lingered on her long eyelashes that were trembling finely.
“It’s just… because it’s fine… Maybe there’s nothing more to say about it?”
“I don’t know. From what I see, that doesn’t seem to be all.”
Her mouth closed tightly. It seemed futile to say anything as it would only sound like an excuse, so she could only wait for him to lose interest and withdraw his hand.
His hand, still gripping her ankle, loosened and his long fingers touched her calf. She thought her breathing sounded shaky for some reason.
She hunched her shoulders, worried his hot touch might delve further inside, but then blinked her eyes rapidly as she felt his hand retreat.
“It feels like it might break if I just grip it lightly, it’s amazing you can jump so high and still be fine.”
With a thud, he put down her ankle and stood up.
“Tell me if anything feels even slightly off. Don’t let it become a bigger issue later.”
He was treating her as if he had completely erased what happened a few days ago. Emilia’s mood sank further at Enrico’s attitude, which seemed to only be interested in her ankle, making her earlier worries about how to face him today seem pointless.
It felt like she had foolishly been the only one thinking and worrying for days.
She had been angry at his rudeness, even blaming herself for constantly being swayed by him, while also feeling a strange anxiety that he might never seek her out again, spending each day with complicated feelings.
But unlike her, he was still acting with a clean face, seemingly not caring at all, and rather behaving as if he was just inspecting the condition of an object, like a continuation of that day.
Emilia thought that her feelings toward him had now reached a stage where they were sagging like a water-soaked cotton, unable to absorb anything more.
“…Yes.”
Please don’t waver anymore. From the beginning, he seemed to find more enjoyment in manipulating her, and she shouldn’t keep giving him such pretexts.
‘He only wants my body, after all.’
Emilia calmly lowered her legs from the bed. Then, as if steeling herself, she closed her eyes tightly before opening them again, the light now gone from her gaze.
Her appearance as she stood up, with an expressionless face as if hiding her emotions, now seemed like a calm lake.
Enrico thought he wanted to cause a big ripple in that calm lake, furrowing his handsome brow.
After all, her appearance of quietly accepting his words with a face like an emotionless doll somehow provoked an unpleasant feeling in him.
“Emilia.”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.”
Her eyes, which had been directed at the floor, looked up at him without protest. Her gaze, as if telling him to speak if he had something to say, somehow made him hesitate.
A suffocating silence passed, but he didn’t seem inclined to speak first despite having called her.
“If you’re done, may I leave now? It seems better to do the hot compress while resting at home. I’ll take thorough care of my body so you don’t have to worry.”
Emilia, not wanting to stay here meaninglessly any longer, spoke to him calmly. As he looked down at her silently, an unfamiliar hesitation flashed across his face.
“…Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“What do you mean?”
Indifferent eyes that seemed to understand nothing stared at him. He twitched his straight eyebrows as if those eyes bothered him.
It was the look he always showed when looking at others, but now those eyes were looking at him. And from someone he didn’t want to see it from.
The current Emilia somehow looked different from how she had been before. At first, he thought she was trying to be calm like before, but now she seemed more apathetic and lacking in enthusiasm.
He had unintentionally shown his excitement at Emilia’s house and briefly considered bringing up that day again.
However, whether she truly didn’t understand his subtle questioning or was pretending not to understand, she showed no intention of mentioning that day, leaving him at a loss for words.
Enrico’s mind went blank for a moment at her suddenly changed attitude, unsure of what to say.
This incredibly stupid feeling seemed to drag him down, and he felt like he might say something strange if he kept her here any longer.
“Never mind. You can go.”
He finally muttered, turning his back. Listening to her footsteps gradually fading behind him, he stared into empty space before sighing as he heard the door close.
It feels like something is going seriously wrong.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
Link to read
